Advertising Media Workbook and Sourcebook

Larry Kelley, Kim Sheehan, Donald W. Jugenheimer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780765640949
• eBook ISBN: 9781317499398
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Advertising
• Index: Business

This book provides simple explanations of advertising media sources and calculations along with real-world examples of source material from advertising and media companies.

Each of the book's 45 concise units opens with a brief text segment, presents sample source materials from actual advertising and media companies, and concludes with hands-on exercises. Compact units cover all key topics including communication planning and media strategies. A media math primer, standard media formulae, media planning checklists, and a glossary of media terms are also included.

Designed for practitioners and students, the latest edition includes new exercises with new media formats and digital media and new units devoted to popular social media channels.

Part I
Marketing and Communication Planning

Unit 1
Working with a Communication Work Plan

Before a media plan is developed, many media teams request a work plan that solicits input from the client and/or the account management or account planning groups. Just like a cre- ative brief, the media work plan serves as the road map for media planning development.

The communication (or media) work plan contains simple facts as well as brand strategies. The simple facts included on the document are:

1. What the media budget is.
2. When the campaign is to start and to end.
3. When the media plan is due internally and to the client.

There is also a background briefing on the situation facing the brand. This usually consists of a synopsis of marketing and advertising research that gives a picture of where the brand is today and what issues face the brand for reaching its goals tomorrow.

Some key factors that influence media plan development include the advertising objectives and overall ad strategies of the target market and creative messaging and execution. All of these strategic decisions greatly influence the outcome of a media plan.

Many media planners have moved to a contact plan or a media touchpoint plan that takes into account a wide array of traditional and nontraditional media. One key question in the media work plan is how the brand is bought—is it in a store, through a catalog, online, or a combination of all of these channels? The answer to this question greatly impacts the media team’s thought process. There are many factors regarding target market influence and timing that can also play into media strategies.

Media planning is a natural outgrowth of a marketing plan, so factors such as seasonality of sales, geographic strengths and weaknesses, along with competition, influence the outcome of all media plans.

A media work plan also contains a section for any mandatory or prior commitments that the client or brand may have. For example, there may be existing media commitments that the media planner must consider or account for in the plan. Or the client may request that the media team use a certain medium or media vehicle. Media planners must know all these facts before embarking on developing a media plan.

Exhibit 1.1 Media Work Plan

Media Work Plan
Client:	Brand:	Date:
Media budget only (net/gross):	Campaign start:	Campaign end:
	Plan due internally:	Plan due to client:
Background (What is the situation facing the brand?) Advertising objectives Target audience: List marketing target, including any relevant attitudinal, demographic, or psychographic data. How is the brand bought? List factors on how it is purchased, such as target influencers or timing that could aid media planning. Key marketing factors: Seasonality Geography (BDI/CDI) Distribution. Competition Creative considerations (new or existing campaigns) Mandatories Measurement

The final section of the media work plan contains how the campaign will be measured. This is vitally important to the media planner because there may be methods of modeling past sales or brand metrics that could lead the planner to develop a future outcome. Tying the media plan to some form of measurement is a fundamental aspect of media planning. With increasingly sophisticated databases and online metrics, media planning is becoming much more focused on return on investment (ROI).

In Exhibit 1.1 you will find an example of a media work plan. It contains the fundamentals a media planner must know to develop the media plan. The work plan can also serve as a nice guide to what information you need before you can proceed to media strategies.

Unit 1 Exercises
Working with a Communication Work Plan

1. What is the significance of net or gross in the media budget section of the media work plan?
2. Discuss what target audience information you would like to see if you were developing a media plan for Cheerios cereal.
3. How do different sales channels impact a media plan? Discuss how you might approach a media plan for Dell computers where the brand is bought online, through a catalog, and in kiosks in malls.
4. Discuss what might be different on the media work plan for a business-to-business product such as a copier compared with a consumer product such as an automobile.

Unit 2
Outlining the Components of a Communication Plan

Every communication plan should begin with an outline. Outlining what is contained in the plan is an efficient way to begin the communications planning project. Whereas all plans are unique depending upon the advertiser, there are fundamentals that should be contained in any communication plan.

Exhibit 2.1 contains an outline for a communications plan. There are 10 broad areas that are covered. They range from an executive summary to how you would measure the results of your plan. Other than the executive summary, each component of the plan builds on the previous one. Marketing objectives/strategies lead into the role that communication plays in solving the marketing challenge. This leads to communication objectives which then lead to communication strategies and tactics. Each communication plan is not unlike a book. It tells a story. In this case, the story is how you plan to solve the brand’s marketing challenge.

Communication Plan vs. Media Plan

A communication plan and a media plan have similar components. The difference between a communication plan and a media plan is the approach to solving the marketing problem. In an advertising media plan, it is assumed that advertising is the solution to the marketing problem. Therefore, a paid media plan is necessary to convey the advertising message to the appropriate target market.

In a communication plan, on the other hand, advertising is only one of a myriad of alternatives to solve the marketing challenge. It may be the solution or it may not. Or advertising may be a part of the solution in combination with other communication alternatives. A communication plan then assesses advertising, promotions, publicity, direct response, and any other form of communication. The communication plan should be strategy neutral. It doesn’t assume that one method of communication is better than another going into the planning process.

Exhibit 2.1
Components of a Communication Plan

1. Executive Summary

a. Summary of Marketing Objectives/Strategies

b. Summary of Communication Objectives/Strategies

c. Budget Summary

2. Situation Analysis

a. Marketing

b. Communication

c. SWOT

3. Marketing Objectives/Strategies

a. Business

b. Brand

4. Role of Communication

a. Message

5. Communication Objectives

a. Target Segment

b. Geography

c. Seasonal/Timing

d. Reach/Frequency/Continuity

6. Communication Strategies

a. Mix

b. Scheduling

7. Communication Tactics

a. Vehicle

b. Rationale

c. Costs

d. Impressions

8. Communication Budget

a. Dollars by Communication Channel

b. Dollars by Month

9. Communication Flowchart

a. Weekly Schedule

b. Recap of Dollars

c. Recap of Impressions

d. Reach/Frequency

10. Testing and Evaluation

a. Test Programs

b. Evaluation Methods

Components of a Communication Plan

There are ten components to the communication plan, as highlighted in Exhibit 2.1. The following are brief descriptions of what is contained in each of these components.

1. Executive Summary

An executive summary of your plan focuses management on the link between the marketing objectives and strategies and the communication objectives and strategies. From a manage- ment viewpoint, it is crucial to understand how communication is tied to the business goals of the brand. Management will also want to understand the strategic nature of the plan and the budget necessary to implement it. All of that is contained in the executive summary.

2. Situation Analysis

The situation analysis forms the context for the plan. It should contain a marketing analysis as well as a communication analysis. Marketing analysis will contain a review of pricing, distribution, resources, and product differentiation compared with competing brands in the same category. Communication analysis will contain message, copy, and communication channel comparison with competing brands in the category. Both should roll up into a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats summary. This is called a SWOT analysis.

3. Marketing Objectives/Strategies

All communication plans derive from a marketing strategy. It is paramount to recap the marketing objectives and strategies. These objectives and strategies should have two aspects. One is business objectives, typically defined by the number of customers and sales. The second is brand aspects which may be defined by differentiation.

4. Role of Communication

The role of communication defines how communication is going to solve the marketing challenge or meet the objectives. The role of communication is how the brand is going to communicate with its consumers. Some typical roles of communication are to increase...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I. Marketing and Communication Planning
• Part II. Media Objectives and Strategies
• Part III. Media Tactics
• Part IV. Broadcast Media
• Part V. Print Media
• Part VI. Out-of-Home Media
• Part VII. Digital Media
• Part VIII. Media Tools, Analysis, and Resources
• Appendix A. A Primer to Media Math
• Appendix B. Some Commonly Used Advertising Media Formulas
• Appendix C. Advertising Media Glossary
• Appendix D. Steps in the Media Decision Process
• About the Authors